1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is applicable to copying machines, recording apparatuses and other image forming apparatus in which the electrophotographic method or the electrostatic recording method are used.
2. Related Background Art
As shown in FIG. 3 of the accompanying drawings, in an apparatus of this type, for example, a recording apparatus using the electrophotographic method, a cleaning blade 21 in a cleaning device is used against the surface of a photosensitive drum to remove any toner remaining on the photosensitive drum after a toner image is transferred to a transfer material. If the positional relation in the axial direction of the drum between the clean blade and the photosensitive drum is fixed, the photosensitive drum always has the same portion thereof rubbed by the blade. Therefore, the influence of a flaw or flaws on the blade or minute foreign materials having entered between the blade and the photosensitive drum concentrates upon the same portion of the photosensitive drum to damage or deteriorate the photosensitive drum.
Also, in a laser beam printer, if the same format is continuously and repetitively printed, the pattern of that format is memorized on the photosensitive layer of the photosensitive member due to the axial fixing of the photosensitive drum, and this has led to a problem that for some time even after the format has been changed, the previous format is printed thinly.
Also, as means for avoiding the same portion of the photosensitive drum being rubbed by the cleaning blade, it has heretofore been practiced that the cleaning blade of the cleaning device used to form an image on the photosensitive drum or a separating pawl for separating a transfer material from the photosensitive drum is moved in the direction of the rotational axis of the drum.